Tayyaba
As of July 20, Shakira is being investigated for tax evasion in a second case in Spain. According to Reuters, prosecutors are investigating her for alleged fraud in her income and wealth tax paper from 2018. The probe comes as the Hips Don’t Lie singer, 46, is also being under scrutiny for allegedly owing 14.5 million euros (approximately $14 million USD) in taxes from 2012 to 2014.
What is more information on the two cases?
The facts known regarding the second investigation are quite minimal, although we do know that it is taking place in an Esplugues de Llobregat court near Barcelona. Prosecutors are evidently seeking an eight-year imprisonment for Shakira Isabel Mebarak, the She-Wolf hitmaker. In September of 2022, a court cleared the popstar’s first tax fraud probe to go to trial and according to Marca, the event will begin in November in Barcelona as well. Shakira may face up to eight years in jail if proven guilty of the accusations.
“The singer’s legal team will not make any comment until the notification reaches her through the formal and legally established channel. As she has already stated on numerous occasions, Shakira asserts that she has always acted in accordance with the law and under the advice of the best tax experts. She is now focused on her artistic life in Miami and is calm and confident that her tax affairs will be resolved favorably.”
Shakira’s legal team to Reuters regarding the second investigation
What has Shakira and her legal team said about the situation?
Shakira’s attorneys have published a statement (given above) stating that they were not notified of the investigation officially and learnt about it through the news. They added that the singer would need to be alerted at her Miami residence before the legal team could make any public comment on her behalf. Throughout the investigations, Shakira has maintained her innocence and claimed to be a law abiding citizen and taxpayer.
Following news of the first investigation in 2022, the popstar’s lawyers told the Daily Mall that Shakira “is a taxpayer who has always shown impeccable tax conduct and has never had tax problems in any other jurisdiction. With no solid evidence to support the charges against her, she has been fiercely persecuted in the criminal and media spheres using unacceptable methods to damage her reputation and force her to come to a settlement agreement.”